Le's dream

(Baonghean) - For nine consecutive years, Nguyen Thi Le (born in 1999), a student at Quynh Luu 1 High School, has been an outstanding student, winning second prize in the provincial history competition (2013-2014) and second prize in literature at the district level. She has become a shining example in the district's academic excellence movement. Despite her studiousness and academic achievements, she constantly worries about having to drop out of school due to the difficult circumstances her family faces...

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Secretary of the Party Committee of Quynh Dien commune (Quynh Luu district), said: "Le's family is in very difficult circumstances. They don't have money to pay for school fees, and Le's sisters only studied up to the 5th or 6th grade. The family has many children, the father suffers from a serious illness, and the mother is constantly sick, struggling to make ends meet..."

The small, dilapidated, three-room house was run-down and contained no valuable possessions. Le's study area was covered with tattered plastic sheets to protect against leaks, and her desk was made from scaffolding planks her father had obtained from his construction work. Her textbooks were borrowed from the school library. Seeing their youngest daughter's eagerness to learn, her parents promised to do their best to ensure she finished 12th grade. Hearing this promise, Le was overjoyed and worked hard to repay them.

Nguyen Thi Le at her study corner.

Le's father was always ill, frequently hospitalized for treatment. To pay for his medical expenses, her mother had to borrow money from everywhere. Her father's health gradually stabilized, but the debt kept increasing, and it was uncertain when they would ever be able to repay it… During her father's hospitalization, the family was in dire straits. Several times, Le considered dropping out of school to help her mother, to ease the burden of tuition and books… But each time, seeing her youngest daughter secretly crying as she carefully examined each book and flipped through the pages, her mother couldn't bring herself to do it… Her three older sisters got married one after another, but their lives were also difficult. Out of love for their parents and their younger sister, the sisters pooled their resources, borrowed money, opened kiosks, bought rice milling machines, and helped their mother with a few acres of leased land to earn money to support Le's education.

With the encouragement of her older sisters, Le became even more determined to study hard and excel. Every day at school was a joyful day for Le, filled with excitement at absorbing new knowledge. Le focused on understanding the lessons and completing her homework right in class. Le excelled in all subjects, achieving a GPA of 8 or higher; she was a top student at the district and provincial levels in History.

Showing us her excellent academic achievements over nine years, proudly displaying certificates of merit from her school, district, and province, her eyes lit up with joy. When talking about her dreams, Le eagerly said, “I want to become a student at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities; to become a history researcher or a history teacher…” But then, that eagerness and hope quickly faded as Le thought about her circumstances: “Getting into university, studying in Hanoi, tuition fees, food, accommodation, and living expenses are all very high. My father is sick, my mother is getting older and weaker, will I be able to manage? Will I have the means to fulfill my dream?”...

Dam Phuong